19 The Lord of Darkness

"Hecate, I need you to do something for me." I informed.

After Hecate teleported us, she had shown me around the castle. Taking me to the throne room, the ballroom, the dining area, the kitchen, and even to an arena that various monsters commissioned so that they could let off some steam from time to time.

Before ending this showing by taking me to the very top of the castle. Giving me a good look at the castle and the beginnings of a city that is being built around it. The beginnings of a kingdom that would worship us as their gods. The start of a religion built out of fear.

Marking the fulfillment of our deal.

"What is it?" Hecate questioned. Turning to look at me, an action which I mimicked.

"I need you to find and destroy Athena for me." I said simply.

My words caused her to reel back as if struck. "You... don't want to do that yourself?" She said in bewilderment. Having expected me to slaughter Athena myself for almost killing me.

I chuckled. "I do, I really do, Hecate. I wish I could simply appear before her beloved Olympus and wipe it from the face of the earth. Except, I can't. She has disappeared, vanishing without a trace. Leaving me with no clue as to her current location."

I realized this after Hecate started to show me around. Athena, and Mt. Olympus, are no longer on this plane and even with my dragon gate, I can not reach them without knowing their location. Which is hidden from me. But not Hecate.

"You think she is hidden behind a barrier in a different dimension." She realized. A small smirk played at her lips.

"Indeed. And since you can find her regardless, I have decided that you will be the one to destroy her. After all, there is no need for me to personally intervene. She is weak." I laughed. It would be like crushing an ant. No matter how hard I step on her, she would die instantly. Taking all the fun out of it.

Starring at me with her red pupils, I watched her smirk grow into a grin. "You honor me, King Ghidorah. Her death will not be a swift one. But what of the other gods? They may be of use to us. Namely Hephaestus."

He could be, indeed. I'm sure every intelligent being can see the use of a forge god. "Do as you please, Hecate. Whether they live or die, is up to you. I leave their fates in your hands." I told her, deciding to give her the freedom to choose.

In response, she closed the distance between us and wrapped her arms around my neck. Leaning in close to me as I in turn wrapped my arms around her waist. "Thank you for considering my words, my lord. Know I will not fail you, now or ever." She promised as her lips met mine, kissing me.

An action I haven't experienced in decades and I only now realized how much I missed it. Of course, we have had sex before but it was never as chaste as this. It had always been just a means to release sexual frustration that even dragons experience, I had learned. Making this quite... different.

Unfortunately, we both have work to do. Leading us to end the kiss too early, in my opinion. Stepping back, Hecate blushed a little and bowed. "I will be going now, my Lord. Athena will be dead within the hour."

"I do not doubt that. Now go, something else has come to my attention." I dismissed. Giving her a look that meant I didn't need help with whatever I had discovered.

Bowing once again, she dissipated into magic notes and left this dimension. Leaving me alone with the one I had sensed. "Eavesdropping is considered wrong, you know? If you wanted to know what I was talking about, you could have just asked." I taunted to seemingly nothing.

In response to said taunt, the shadows cast by the moon shifted, and out came an imposing figure of a man who stands equal to me. Dressed in fine garments hidden by a dark cloak that matches his long black hair. With him also possessing blood red eyes similar to my own.

"Eavesdropping? I'm afraid not, Dragon. I was simply waiting to speak with you, one parasite to another. Of course, if you wish to take it that way, I will not correct you." The man corrected. Allowing me to see his long fangs as he did.

"I don't really care if you were or not. What I care about is who you are, Vampire. Though, I may have pieced that together already." I said, not lowering my guard.

"Ah, excuse my manors, they seem to have dulled during my sleep." He informed as he placed his hand over his chest and bowed slightly, showing his respect. "My name is Vlad Dracula Tepes, the Progenitor of Vampires and the Lord of Darkness. And I have taken an interest in you."

So, he really is THE Vampire, not just one of the cheap knockoffs. I should have expected that, the level of power he possesses is comparable to Ddraig's. "Taken an interest in what exactly?" I asked, releasing my hold on my aura.

Raising an eyebrow, he answered my question with another. "What is there to not take interest in? You appeared out of nowhere, invading my senses and disturbing my rest. Then, you start devouring everything you came across, gaining power at an astonishing rate. So astonishing that you toppled an entire pantheon not long after arriving here. Before then going on to duke it out with Y Ddraig Goch himself, an undeniable feat of strength, even if you lost. So, in my humble opinion, you are quite an interesting specimen."

Yeah... that's not frightening at all. To think he's been watching me all this time. "... What do you want, Dracula?" I finally asked, getting to the important questions.

Gaining a chuckle in return. "What do I want? No, the question is what do you want? Why are you here? What purpose do you serve? What reason do you have for living? What plans do you have? These are all questions I wish to know and the reason I have appeared before you on this night."

Oh, I thought he wanted to fight. That makes things easier. "What I want i-" I started, only to be interrupted.

Raising his hand to silence me, Dracula spoke once more. "There is no need to speak. Your actions in battle will tell me all that I need to know, without having to worry about falsehoods or schemes."

Damn, of course it wouldn't be that easy. I can see where he is coming from, though. We are both evil entities, prone to lying and tricks. But we cannot lie in battle, where our true colors shine through.

Taking a stance, Dracula made a 'come at me' motion. "Let's begin."

"Let's." I agreed, let's get this over with.

launching forward, I appeared before Dracula in an instant. My first cocked back, ready to strike the vampire lord. But he was prepared for that as he slipped into my shadow and appeared behind me. Counterattacking with a roundhouse kick that sent me flying away from my castle.

Letting the momentum carry me away, I rotated and watched as Dracula disappeared once again, seemingly becoming one with the night. Before then reappearing right in front of me, his red eyes glowing as he slammed his palm into my sternum.

Doing little to nothing as I do not need to breathe, lessening the attack's effectiveness greatly. Smirking, I grabbed hold of his hand. Using it to pull him towards me as I countered with an elbow to his face, knocking his head back.

Now nearing the ground, we impacted in an explosion of force that separated us, both of us landing on our feet. Continuing, we both rushed at one another. Connecting with a fury of blows that merely left bruises and scratches. Our durability proving just as grand as our strength.

Upping the ante, I channeled the power of a gravity beam through my hand, causing it to glow golden. Before lashing out with a powerful punch that cracked space. Only for Dracula to avoid it by morphing into a bunch of bats.

As he reformed a few meters away, I followed up by gathering power in my lungs before releasing it in a large beam of pure aura. Engulfing Dracula's shifting form and destroying a large portion of a mountain off in the distance.

Once the attack ended, I witnessed the wounds inflicted on Dracula close up and heal in an instant. Regeneration, huh? This might be more interesting than I thought. Let's see how far I can take this battle.

Now dawning an irritated look, Dracula created a large number of bats from his shadow that acted as a smoke screen. Blinding me and my senses as he closed the distance and unleased a devastating kick that I was unable to dodge.

It's sheer force caving in my ribcage as I was violently forced back. Continuing his attack, Dracula created a giant hand from the darkness that caught me and attempted to crush me. Nearly doing so as I felt like I was being crushed by the weight of the planet.

Letting out an animalistic growl, Dracula clasped his hands together and manipulated the darkness the night wrought. Gathering it and condensing it around my form as he created spears of darkness that pierced that sphere and then me.

Drawing first blood, a thought that pushed me over the edge. Roaring out, I released a wave of pure energy that forced the darkness to recede. Freeing me from Dracula's machinations as I fell to the ground. My wounds already healed.

Landing like Homelander, I kicked off the ground with enough force to shatter it. Rocketing myself toward Dracula as I increased my speed with lightning. Catching him off guard and leaving him unable to react as I grabbed him by his head and slammed him into the ground.

All before teleporting up into the sky above him and charging up a gravity beam in a similar fashion to how Goku creates a Kamehameha wave. Then evolving it into a Red Gravity Beam before firing it at Dracula.

Who had already gotten up but due to the light generated by my attack, he could not escape via darkness. Leaving him no other choice but to attack in kind. Using his claws to cut open his wrist, he gathered his blood in his palm before adding his power to it.

Creating a dark red sphere of energy that glowed with dark power. Aiming towards me, he released it in a ray-like attack similar to my own. With both of them colliding in an explosion of force that leveled our surroundings.

Not letting up, we then added more and more power to the attack. Creating a power struggle that went back and forth until finally ending when it grew unstable. The insane amount of energy in the attacks growing to a boiling point.

That boiling point being the collapse of space-time at the center of the attacks. Creating a discharge that forcefully removed us from that space by throwing us back. Sending me into a mountain kilometers away from where we were.

Picking myself up, I couldn't help but let out a manic laugh at what I had achieved. Never had I ever dreamed of possessing such a level of power when I was a human. And yet now I have it! Now, I am a god!

Appearing before me once more, Dracula grinned as he entered a fighting stance. His slit pupils wide with battle lust. "Shall we continue, Emperor?" he asked rhetorically, knowing the answer already.

Whatever test he was performing, I have already passed it. Now, we are just fighting for fun. "Of course, Dracula. I haven't had enough yet. I haven't had enough of this thrill. The thrill of doing battle just for the sake of battle!"

-_-

Ghidorah passed the vibe check